The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 31: It Never Gets Better

Important: This chapter won't be as long as others due to how I want to construct the story. It discusses what happens between two major events in the story.

I don't intend for the next chapter to have this little intermission.

Enjoy.

...

"̶̢̮͎҇͂̒W̷̧̱̭̪̭̯̅̽͒̇͠ę̶͙͕͕͕̉̾̈́̍̕ͅl̶̞̜̳͇͉̀̏̅̕͜c҉̧͔̣͕҇̑̓̓̇o̷̭͖͍̱̤҇̽̂͢m҉̛͕̱͕̞̂̋̓͢ͅę̸͓͍̣͇͂̉̕ h҈̨̟̯̖͍̝̀̌̉́͋͠o҈̠̲̗͕͙҇͗̊̒́͜m҉̨̠̬͉̝̱̑͑̈͠ḛ̶̖̋̆̌̕͢.̷̨̛̥̘̘̖̑̚.҉̢̙͎̭͍̣̈́̄͂̎͠.҉̧̜̪̲̲͎̂͆̄̇͞"̴̡̟͕͙͈҇͛̈̇͒̚

What the hell was that?

What the hell was that?

Those were the only words they could think as they stared up at Raven's insanity-inducing form. Their heads couldn't even recognize the shape. It wasn't human. It wasn't possible. Clawed feet the size of barrels scratched and scraped unnaturally against the ground when Raven took a slow, unbalanced step forward, like she was just learning to walk for the first time.

"N... Nya..."

Yin just barely managed to pry his eyes away to look at his brother, his heart sinking. Vao was staring up at Raven, his lips curled into an uneven grimace. He was giggling.

"I-I... I remember," he rasped. Yin's breath grew heavier as he slowly turned his eyes back to Raven, staring up at her.

The sight was bringing his memories back. Every last one of them. Abominations broke reality around them; by the laws of the universe, their existence disregarded it completely. There was no way for the unseen forces to keep his memories at bay anymore. Not when Yin had encountered two abominations, with Raven being the worst of the two.

His breath quickened, his fingers shakily curling in his hair as he stared. He could feel hot tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks, faintly remembering everything that had led up to this moment.

Verde clutched her head, curling into a ball. Tim looked at her with a pale face, his nose beginning to bleed. "V-V... Verde...?"

The witch choked and groaned, toppling to the ground. She remembered her experiments. She remembered the horrors of the First Timeline. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her teeth clenching so hard her gums started to bleed. She couldn't even form a comprehensible sentence, spouting wave after wave of quiet, rambling gibberish.

Sasha's greatsword fell from his limp hands, silence falling down upon the elf like a weighted blanket. Her body felt heavy as she remembered the hellish things she saw in the sandstorm during the First Timeline. Heavy as she remembered the Black Stars. She took a step back, her legs giving out underneath her.

Team FRSB remembered everything. The pieces were beginning to click into place; the edges of the twisted mental jigsaw puzzle were decayed and rotted, but they still fit perfectly. Salem had never been their enemy. Their enemy was the Gods themselves.

They weren't the only ones affected by Raven's new existence. Hopelessness washed over the victors of Faralda, a sense of dread that broke their spirits. Raven could not be allowed to exist. Not because of any crime. But because she broke the laws of every comprehensible law of the universe itself.

Raven took another step forward, this time more balanced. She was becoming better at walking. Yin and Vao backed away, Salem protectively pulling them closer.

"̸̭͙̠͖̖͙̠͖͌͋̿̒͊̋͜͞I̸̡͚̯̟̫̾̐͆͠t̴͍͓̤͒͌̏̏̒̕̚͜ h҉̡̤̦̜͔̖͑̃́͞ų̶̥̱̂̒̄̈́̅̇̂͊͞ŗ̸̙͍͉̱̖̱̦͗̎̑̽̈́͐͝t̷̨͇̦͚̘͙̭̲̎̆͞s̵̡̰͖҇͑̄̃̐̍̑̏.҈̧͍̙̗̲̑͐̐͆̅̋͞.҉̢̱͍̝͉̜́̆̇́̎̉̀̽͝.҈̡͍̰̲҇͊̉̍̓͒̚"̷̡͉̲̜̳͛̒͊̈͆̕̚